There's a party planned for the streets of downtown Naples this month.

Downtown officials are hoping the two-week festival won't just mean feet on the streets. They're also hoping those feet will venture into the shops and restaurants that line downtown Naples streets.

The city of Naples will host its inaugural CityFest starting today. The two-week festival runs through May 15.

"It's important because I think Naples has grown so much, and downtown is the roots. This is where this all started," said Lisa Swirda, executive director of the Downtown Naples Association.

"(The idea was) let's have a two week celebration and get the year-round residents reacquainted with downtown."

The festival — a reincarnation of the Tropicool Festival popular in the 1990s — is meant to incorporate events that were already planned with new events to help promote downtown, said David Lykins, the city's community services director.

"Our goal from a staff part is to work with the different retail areas that can be promoted and extend the shoulder season," Lykins said.

"The idea is to promote economic activity and tourism, but really just to try and keep the downtown area as a first choice destination for shopping, dining and hotels."

Revitalizing downtown has been a topic of discussion at Naples City Council for about a year and City Council members earlier this year discussed options to bring more people downtown, specifically to the city's community redevelopment district.

A family-friendly festival to bring the community together was one of the ideas that kept coming up in the discussions, said Councilman Gary Price.

Price pushed for a one-day festival, but said recently he was excited with what city officials put together.

"The idea was to bring the community together and ... enjoy downtown," Price said. "I'm hoping that it will bring more people downtown who might no come down when traffic is down."

Swirda said stores on Fifth Avenue South will be encouraged to stay open late during evening events on the street.

Similar things are being done in other popular neighborhoods, such as Third Street South, 10th Street South and Crayton Cove.

"I'm hoping it will boost sales, but also it will reacquaint people with the whole downtown area," Swirda said.

Price said he hopes CityFest will bring people together and allow them to rediscover some of their favorite parts of Naples.

"My idea was to get our neighbors together," he said. "I think this is just a great way."

The May party won't be the only off-season event city staffers have up their sleeve to celebrate Naples. Lykins said a similar event is in the works for the fall, possibly in October.

There are no details surrounding the fall event, but Lykins said he's unsure whether it will be another two week festival.